Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal

• Wayne Myrvold: A 2 Hour Deep Dive Into Entropy

  Philosopher of physics Wayne Myrvold reframes thermodynamics as a resource theory and argues the "entropy always increases" slogan is a consequence of the second law, not the law itself. We contrast Gibbs and Boltzmann entropies, explore Maxwell's demon and Landauer erasure, relate available energy and Helmholtz free energy to agency and constraints, and examine fluctuations, Carnot efficiency as a statistical bound, macrostates vs microstates, disorder, ergodicity, cosmology and heat death, and how collapse theories would alter the story. We close with reflections on stat mech/QFT pedagogy and career advice.00:00 Is entropy in the system or in our minds?07:12 Original thermodynamics as a resource theory of heat and power18:24 The second law does not assume entropy; entropy requires the second law30:58 From caloric to molecular motion: historical view39:04 Maxwell's insight: why the second law is not absolute48:11 Information as a resource: knowledge and entropy1:00:53 Boltzmann vs Gibbs: objective vs subjective entropy1:10:24 Maxwell's demon and Landauer's principle1:25:02 The inevitable "heat death" of the universe?1:30:19 Why "disorder" misleads1:35:21 Ergodic hypothesis: relevance and limits1:43:52 Is statistical mechanics on shaky ground (like QFT)?1:50:50 Career advice: do not join bandwagonsResources:- Join My New Substack (Personal Writings): https://curtjaimungal.substack.com- Ted Jacobson [TOE]: https://youtu.be/3mhctWlXyV8- Concerning Several Conveniently Applicable Forms For The Main Equations Of The Mechanical Heat Theory [Paper]: https://web.lemoyne.edu/giunta/Clausius1865.pdf- John Norton [TOE]: https://youtu.be/Tghl6aS5A3M- On An Absolute Thermometric Scale [Paper]: https://sites.pitt.edu/~jdnorton/teaching/2559_Therm_Stat_Mech/docs/Thomson_1848.pdf- Carnot Efficiency: https://energyeducation.ca/encyclopedia/Carnot_efficiency- Maxwell's Talk On Molecules: https://victorianweb.org/science/maxwell/molecules.html- Helmholtz Free Energy: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/helmholtz-free-energy- Boltzmann Entropy: https://chem.libretexts.org/Courses/Western_Washington_University/Biophysical_Chemistry_(Smirnov_and_McCarty)/01%3A_Biochemical_Thermodynamics/1.05%3A_The_Boltzmann_Distribution_and_the_Statistical_Definition_of_Entropy- Maxwell's Letter: https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/PH-CAVENDISH-P-00092/1- Landauer's Principle: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S135521980300039X- On A Universal Tendency In Nature To The Dissipation Of Mechanical Energy: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14786445208647126- Neil Turok [TOE]: https://youtu.be/zNZCa1pVE20- Roger Penrose [TOE]: https://youtu.be/sGm505TFMbU- Sean Carroll [TOE]: https://youtu.be/9AoRxtYZrZo- Understanding The Infinite [Book]: https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Infinite-Shaughan-Lavine/dp/0674921178- Classical Electrodynamics [Book]: https://www.amazon.com/Classical_Electrodynamics-John-David-Jackson/dp/1119770769- Why Information Is Entropy [YouTube]: https://youtu.be/8Uilw9t-syQ- https://megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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• Michael Levin Λ Anil Seth: Your Brain Isn’t a Computer and That Changes Everything

  Anil Seth and Michael Levin debate whether brains are computers, how consciousness relates to substrate, and if algorithms can ever capture life and mind. Levin argues machines can access a platonic space of agency via embodied interfaces, xenobots, and compositional agents, while Seth challenges the software-hardware split using information theory, Granger causality, and psychophysics. Together they probe islands of awareness, degeneracy, bubble-sort side quests, LLM surprises, alignment, and how to ask better scientific questions.- 00:00 - Anil Seth & Michael Levin: Islands of Consciousness & Xenobots- 08:24 - Substrate Dependence: Why Biology Isn't Just 'Wetware'- 13:13 - Beyond Algorithms: Do Machines Tap Into a 'Platonic Space'?- 21:46 - The Ghost in the Algorithm: Emergent Agency in Bubble Sort- 29:26 - Degeneracy: The Biological Principle AI is Missing- 36:34 - The Multiplicity of Agency: Are Your Cells Conscious?- 43:24 - Unconscious Processing or Inaccessible Consciousness? The Split-Brain Problem- 49:32 - The Ultimate Experiment to Decode Consciousness- 57:31 - A Counter-Intuitive Discovery: Consciousness is Less Emergent- 1:03:39 - Psychedelics, LLMs, and the Frontiers of SurpriseSPONSORS:- HelloFresh: Get 10 Free Meals + a Free Item for Life. One per box with active subscription; free meals applied as discount on first box; new subscribers only; varies by plan. http://HelloFresh.com/THEORIESOFEVERYTHING10FM- Claude: 50% off Claude Pro, including Claude Code. http://claude.ai/theoriesofeverythingRESOURCES:- Michael Levin [TOE]: https://youtu.be/c8iFtaltX-s- Anil Seth [TOE]: https://youtu.be/_hUEqXhDbVs- Geoffrey Hinton [TOE]: https://youtu.be/b_DUft-BdIE- Living Things Are Not Machines [Article]: https://www.noemamag.com/living-things-are-not-machines-also-they-totally-are/- Classical Sorting Algorithms [Paper]: https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.05375- Michael Levin and Anna Ciaunica [TOE]: https://youtu.be/2aLhkm6QUgA- Being You: A New Science of Consciousness [Book]: https://www.amazon.com/Being-You-New-Science-Consciousness/dp/1524742872/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0- The Consciousness Iceberg [TOE]: https://youtu.be/65yjqIDghEk- Iain McGilchrist [TOE]: https://youtu.be/Q9sBKCd2HD0- Matt Segall [TOE]: https://youtu.be/DeTm4fSXpbM- Andres Gomez-Emilsson [TOE]: https://youtu.be/gi08eVU_-f8- MIT's Augmentation Summit: https://augmentationlab.org/summit- Granger Causality Analysis [Paper]: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25716830/- Dynamical Independence [Paper]: https://journals.aps.org/pre/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevE.99.022143 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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• Lilian Dindo: Mindfulness, Acceptance, Coping with Obsessive Thoughts, and ACT Therapy

  YouTube link: https://youtu.be/L_hI7JNsbt0 Lilian Dindo is a Professor of Medicine at Baylor College, and we talk about ACT therapy. Patreon: https://patreon.com/curtjaimungal Crypto: https://tinyurl.com/cryptoTOE PayPal: https://tinyurl.com/paypalTOE Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOEwithCurt Discord Invite: https://discord.com/invite/kBcnfNVwqs iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/better-left-unsaid-with-curt-jaimungal/id1521758802 Pandora: https://pdora.co/33b9lfP Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gL14b92xAErofYQA7bU4e Subreddit r/TheoriesOfEverything: https://reddit.com/r/theoriesofeverything Merch: https://tinyurl.com/TOEmerch LILIAN'S LINKS: -http://actfindyourpath.com -https://www.bcm.edu/people-search/lilian-dindo-20557 -https://www.bcm.edu/research/faculty-labs/act-on-health-lab -http://contextualscience.org LINKS MENTIONED: -Karl Friston episode: https://youtu.be/SWtFU1Lit3M -A H Almaas episode: https://youtu.be/6JlKf1QAvXA -Curt's Crash Course on Theoretical Physics: https://youtu.be/e8kyvdPP8os TIMESTAMPS: 00:00:00 Introduction 00:04:05 What is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) therapy? 00:08:12 Suffering is a part of life 00:11:06 ACT is not just for therapy, but for general illness and rejection 00:14:24 Lilian's feeling anxiety in this interview *right now*, but ACT is helping 00:15:57 Dealing with panic attacks 00:18:22 "Anxiety" and "excitement" are physiologically indistinguishable 00:20:00 Implementing ACT (specific example) 00:26:15 Stop avoiding. The mind works by addition (not subtraction)! 00:30:00 Choosing courage vs. "mustering" courage 00:30:51 Coping vs. mollifying 00:33:45 Goal oriented vs. Value oriented 00:36:06 How to uncover your own values? 00:42:14 Do values imply a "should"? (specific example) 00:47:45 What separates those for whom therapy works for, from those who it doesn't? 00:54:57 Suicidal ideation / psychosis (there's hope with ACT) 00:57:14 Enhancing learning math / physics 00:59:50 Acceptance vs Acknowledgement 01:01:40 Physical vs Psychology (mind and body connection) 01:05:53 A visual example you can employ to abate anxiety 01:10:39 The role of belief / hope / faith / trust 01:11:08 "Thanking" the negative thought / emotion 01:11:50 People don't suffer with just ONE issue, but multiple Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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• Andrés Gómez-Emilsson: The Mathematics That Predicts Your DMT Trip

  Improve your sleep today! Head to https://evening.ver.so/toe to get 15% off your first order of Verso's Nightcap Elixir. As a listener of TOE you can get a special 20% off discount to The Economist and all it has to offer! Visit https://www.economist.com/toe Live from MIT Media Lab’s Augmentation Lab Summit, I speak with Andres Gomez-Emilsson of the Qualia Research Institute about modeling consciousness and rendering it. You haven't seen psychedelic visuals /experiences explained like this before. We separate qualia from sensory input and map the “geometry” of experience through color—synesthesia, pure hues, after-images, and “is your blue my blue?” Andres demos QRI’s GPU tool, a Photoshop for psychedelia built on coupled oscillators and feedback. It recreates LSD/psilocybin’s fractal tapestries, DMT’s entity-like mirror tunnels, global synchrony, and “white-out.” We cover “psychedelic thermodynamics,” neural annealing and valence flips, and pseudo-time—loops and timeless stretches. The episode makes a case for real-time, in-state phenomenology over questionnaires. This was specifically structured to be informative to both those who have never experienced psychedelics and those who are, let’s say, well acquainted. Thank you to Dunya Baradari, Addy Cha, and Andres, of course. Join My New Substack (Personal Writings): https://curtjaimungal.substack.com Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gL14b9... SUPPORT: Become a YouTube Member (Early Access Videos):    / @theoriesofeverything   Support me on Patreon:   / curtjaimungal   Support me on Crypto: https://commerce.coinbase.com/checkou... Support me on PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_... Twitter:   / toewithcurt   Discord Invite:   / discord   SOCIALS: Guests do not pay to appear. Theories of Everything receives revenue solely from viewer donations, platform ads, and clearly labelled sponsors; no guest or associated entity has ever given compensation, directly or through intermediaries. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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• Curt Jaimungal (Me): Philosophers vs. Physicists

  Curt discusses how philosophy has directly contributed to physics through Bell's theorem, decoherence theory, the hole argument, and more. Meanwhile, via John Norton, we uncover the hidden philosophical assumptions in physics that most scientists don’t even realize they’re making. As a listener of TOE you can get a special 20% off discount to The Economist and all it has to offer! Visit https://www.economist.com/toe Join My New Substack (Personal Writings): https://curtjaimungal.substack.com Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gL14b9... SUPPORT: Become a YouTube Member (Early Access Videos):    / @theoriesofeverything   Support me on Patreon:   / curtjaimungal   Support me on Crypto: https://commerce.coinbase.com/checkou... Support me on PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_... Twitter:   / toewithcurt   Discord Invite:   / discord   Curt's Substack article: https://curtjaimungal.substack.com/p/... John Norton [TOE]:    • The 300-Year-Old Physics Mistake No One No...   Neil deGrasse Tyson [TOE]:    • "Philosophers Are USELESS!" Neil & Curt Cl...   How Not to Do Philosophy of Science [article]: https://sites.pitt.edu/~jdnorton/Good... Jacob Barandes [TOE]:    • The Physicist Who Found Quantum Theory's U...   The Hole Argument: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/sp... General covariance and general relativity [paper]: https://sites.pitt.edu/~jdnorton/pape... Emily Adlam Λ Jacob Barandes [TOE]:    • Harvard Physicist: Why Multiple Universes ...   Eaters of the lotus [paper]: https://sites.pitt.edu/~jdnorton/pape... John Norton’s profile: https://sites.pitt.edu/~jdnorton/jdno... Hempel (1988) - Oltre il positivismo logico Popper (1963) - Conjectures and Refutations, Ch. 3 Deutsch (1997) - The Fabric of Reality SOCIALS: Guests do not pay to appear. Theories of Everything receives revenue solely from viewer donations, platform ads, and clearly labelled sponsors; no guest or associated entity has ever given compensation, directly or through intermediaries. LINKS MENTIONED: For further reading on these critiques of instrumentalism: #science Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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